Should air travel require “junk-touching?”

A California dude created a big hoo hah when his video of being patted down prior to flying commercially became “viral.“ No, the video didn’t cause a virus on the Internet nor did it cause a dangerous disease to be let loose among the public. Viral in this case is one of those words that probably never imagined it would have the meaning it has these days of a widely exposed video on the Internet.

Nevertheless, I am not going to spend a lot of time today pontificating on this subject  — Relieved?? Why you a**hole!!! — because I want to provide a couple of links where you (I am talking to YOU the reader) can read about this guy who didn’t want his “junk” touched while being patted down pre-flight by a Transportation Security Administration officer. The debate he has touched off is the oft-repeated one of privacy versus security and a lot of folks are weighing in on the matter, including airline pilots.

Me, I haven’t made up my mind yet about whether full body scanning or having a  pat-down search need be a prerequisite to flying commercially. My stubborn civil libertarian streak leans toward no, but I don’t know if circumstances have come to the point where such intrusiveness is needed. I have been searched before. Quite a few times in fact, for different reasons, and I have yet to like it when done by one of the male species.

Read the story or stories, however many I decide to link, and watch the video. That is, do so if you want to be informed. If you want to be a total dolt-headed ignoramus, that is your choice as an American. What a great country!